Granted Patent B2

US 10,420,064 · App. 16/141,831 · Granted Sep 17, 2019

Inventors: Anthony Fadell (Portola Valley, CA); Andrew Bart Hodge (Palo Alto, CA); Stephen P. Zadesky (Portola Valley, CA); Aram Lindahl (Menlo Park, CA); Anthony Guetta (San Carlos, CA)

Assignee: Apple, Inc.

H04W68/005G06F3/016G06F3/044G06F3/0412G08B6/00G06F3/0488G06F3/04855G06F2203/014G06F2203/04104G06F2203/04808

Abstract

Claims (52)

1. An earbud accessory device, comprising:

a housing configured to mate with an ear canal;

a speaker disposed in the housing;

a microphone disposed in the housing;

communication circuitry, disposed in the housing, that wirelessly communicates with an associated electronic device; and

processing circuitry, disposed in the housing, that is operative to:

receive a notification via the communication circuitry regarding a phone call received by the associated electronic device;

transmit a control signal to the associated electronic device via the communication circuitry to answer the phone call;

use the speaker to present output audio for the phone call received from the associated electronic device via the communication circuitry; and

transmit input audio for the phone call obtained via the microphone to the associated electronic device via the communication circuitry.

2. The earbud accessory device of claim 1 , wherein the communication circuitry wirelessly communicates with the associated electronic device using Bluetooth.

3. The earbud accessory device of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is operative to use the speaker to present music received from the associated electronic device via the communication circuitry.

4. The earbud accessory device of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is operative to:

receive a navigation instruction from the associated electronic device via the communication circuitry; and

provide output in response to the navigation instruction.

5. The earbud accessory device of claim 4 , wherein the navigation instruction guides from a current location to a destination.

6. The earbud accessory device of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is operative to provide:

a first output in response to the notification when a caller associated with the phone call is of a first group; and

a second output in response to the notification when the caller is of a second group.

7. The earbud accessory device of claim 1 , wherein:

the processing circuitry is operative to provide an output in response to the notification; and

the associated electronic device specifies the output to provide.

8. The earbud accessory device of claim 1 , wherein the communication circuitry wirelessly communicates with the associated electronic device using a short-range communications protocol.

9. An earbud accessory device, comprising:

a housing configured to at least partially insert into an ear canal;

a speaker disposed in the housing;

communication circuitry, disposed in the housing, that wirelessly communicates with an associated electronic device; and

processing circuitry, disposed in the housing, that is operative to:

receive a notification via the communication circuitry regarding a phone call received by the associated electronic device;

output an audio notification via the speaker in response to receiving the notification; and

transmit a control signal to the associated electronic device via the communication circuity.

10. The earbud accessory device of claim 9 , wherein the control signal relates to the phone call.

11. The earbud accessory device of claim 9 , further comprising a microphone disposed in the housing wherein the processing circuitry generates the control signal using input received via the microphone.

12. The earbud accessory device of claim 9 , further comprising a touch sensing mechanism that is operative to sense a touch to the earbud accessory device.

13. The earbud accessory device of claim 12 , wherein the processing circuitry receives input via the touch sensing mechanism.

14. The earbud accessory device of claim 9 , wherein the audio notification comprises a telephone ring.

15. An earbud accessory device, comprising:

a housing configured to at least one of mate with an ear canal or at least partially insert into the ear canal;

a speaker disposed in the housing;

a microphone disposed in the housing;

communication circuitry, disposed in the housing, that wirelessly communicates with an associated electronic device; and

processing circuitry, disposed in the housing, that is operative to:

receive a notification via the communication circuitry regarding a phone call received by the associated electronic device;

output an alert via the speaker in response to receiving the notification; and

transmit a control signal to the associated electronic device via the communication circuitry to answer the phone call.

16. The earbud accessory device of claim 15 , further comprising an accelerometer disposed within the housing.

17. The earbud accessory device of claim 16 , wherein the processing circuitry receives input via the accelerometer.

18. The earbud accessory device of claim 15 , further comprising a capacitive sensing mechanism.

19. The earbud accessory device of claim 18 , wherein the processing circuitry receives input via the capacitive sensing mechanism.

20. The earbud accessory device of claim 15 , wherein:

the control signal is a first control signal; and

the processing circuitry is operative to transmit a second control signal to the associated electronic device via the communication circuitry to end the phone call.

Continuity (8)